Facing The Scary Stream

I’m very lucky to have horses at home and my set up includes stables and a couple of paddocks with a stream that runs through the fields.

Most of my horses learn to cross the stream but my current horse Katie isn’t that keen! I’ve tried for 8 months to encourage her over. Leading her to the edge and trying to lure her with treats. However my efforts have reinforced her behaviour as when I’ve failed to get her over the steam, I’ve walked her back to her lovely stable filled with her favourite things. 🥰

This gave her the confirmation that she was right not to go over the stream. Leading to Katie deciding she also wasn’t going in the trailer. Which left me in a quandary as to what I should do.

Boxing Day was the first time I had as much time as Katie needed. But one thing I was sure about. I wasn’t going to be leading her back to her stable until she had gone over the stream. I also had further support as I decided to use the Paradise Precision Halter.

I’ve not used it before as Katie gets very overwhelmed with pressure and I felt using the halter might have been too much for her. However I shouldn’t have left it so long as it proved to be the missing link to help Katie tackle this challenge.

I allowed the halter to apply the smallest amount of pressure and as soon as Katie attempted to move forward I adjusted quickly. We had a couple of larger movements, namely Katie trying to work out if she could make a run for it. But after only 10mins she dropped her head and tentatively stepped into the stream to the other side. Where a paddock of fresh grass was waiting for her.

I’ve experienced the head drop many times and its the moment of clarity when your horse is saying . Ok let me try this….

That afternoon I slipped the halter back on and Katie came back over the stream. Yes she was visibly scared but she was calm and thinking about every step.

Keeping the momentum, the next day I pulled the trailer out and after only a few minutes Katie walked up the trailer twice. This is good progress and gives me hope we can continue to grow her confidence again with the trailer.

Katie learnt the stream wasn’t such a scary place. Her trust in me has grown and it’s also supported her trailer loading.

I’m hoping we can build on this to continue our adventures in 2025.

Thanks for reading and if you are facing a similar challenge. Check out my halter as it might be the link to support your horse too.